Step into the Ring: Empowering Remote Teams Through Trauma-Informed Leadership with Stephanie Lemek - ep. 078

Stephanie Lemek, the Founder and CEO of The Wounded Workforce, brought her extensive HR expertise and unexpected background as a boxing referee and judge delving into her profound People Relations acumem in this episode that was recorded live at the Transform HR conference in Last Vegas!

Join host Kaleem Clarkson and our guests as they share valuable insights around feedback in a remote work setting. Originating from Omaha, Nebraska, and now based in Phoenix, Arizona, Stephanie discussed her corporate and startup roles, including notable research on remote work at Gallup.

Leading Wounded Workforce, Stephanie focuses on creating trauma-informed teams, emphasizing how remote work supports individuals dealing with trauma or disabilities while expanding the talent pool and fostering inclusivity.

The pair delved into the challenges of remote feedback, with Stephanie advocating for deliberate communication and readiness checks. Drawing from her HR experience, she highlighted HR's role as truth-tellers and effective upward management.

Stephanie's passion for boxing, inspired by her family's dedication to fitness and community, provided a unique perspective to this chat: Her involvement in boxing contributed to youth engagement and violence prevention!

Stephanie's diverse insights offer valuable guidance on remote work, feedback culture, and building inclusive workplaces. Thank you for an inspiring conversation, Stephanie, keep sharing your invaluable insights, and enriching our understanding of remote work dynamics!

Learn more about Stephanie:

• Stephanie’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brienyc/
• The Wounded Workforce: https://www.thewoundedworkforce.com/

Transcript

Kaleem: 0:35

All right. We're ready. Well, we are here. Thank you so much for coming. A little bit about our guest today. Our guest today you're from Omaha, Nebraska. Go Huskers. Let's see. They currently reside in Phoenix, Arizona. They're a fellow trooper. Shout out troop HR. I see you. This is a shocker. This is a shocker. Now let me get this right. You are a certified boxing ref. Yes.

Stephanie: 1:05

Ian judge. Correct. I can count some punches.

Kaleem: 1:08

Wait, what is it? You roll with the, I roll with the punches. I guess today has been in HR for 16 years, Work for startups, I work for big companies. Shout out the Gallup. She worked at Gallup. All the remote work research. Shout

Stephanie: 1:25

out.

Kaleem: 1:27

Our guest today. is the founder. And CEO of Wounded Workforce, which is a consultancy that's dedicated to building, trauma informed teams. Listeners and viewers, please give a warm welcome to Stephanie Let's go. That's the best

Stephanie: 1:55

intro ever. I love it. So amazing. So great to be here with you at transform and chat with you. and your

Kaleem: 2:02

listeners. Yes. Thank you for hanging out. We're here at the tandem booth. Yes. Shout out Mel for bringing us out here. Love to shout out. we have to talk about feedback, obviously, and we have to talk about remote work. So, you know, in a remote work setting, what are some challenges that you find when You may have to give critical feedback, or maybe some

Stephanie: 2:26

tips? Yeah, absolutely. You know, the thing about remote workplaces, I always tell people is It's the same, but it's different. That's kind of obvious, but a lot of communication challenges come up when we talk about remote work. I think the challenges a lot of times in person, we're not deliberate about how we communicate and being deliberate about how we communicate is so important when it comes to feedback. So I think folks in a remote environment are used to being deliberate with communication. So it can actually be a leg up when it comes to providing, you know, critical feedback, positive feedback, any kind of feedback. One thing to think about, though, for any kind of remote communication, and especially when it's a high stakes conversation. Is really what information am I missing? And this can be true of a remote environment or an in person environment, but think about a remote environment You maybe don't know what went on in that person's day. So if you're in an office with someone You know what's going on pretty much, but someone in a completely different setting than you, you might not know what their day has been like. A great way to counter that is to ask. I always, this is a big thing. I mess up all the time. So learn from my mistakes. Please ask someone if they would like feedback and if they're ready to receive feedback. Wow. And It's so simple to do that. And so I think that's a huge thing to counter some of the missing information around, Hey, can I deliver this feedback? Well, another thing is body language. So if you can, I know we all get zoom fatigue, but these are conversations I would really encourage prioritizing some face to face, even if it's a follow up face to face. So you can kind of get a sense of that. body language, eye contact expressions in those feedback conversations and a remote setting as well.

Kaleem: 4:20

Wow. Wow. Lots of nuggets there. Thank you. That that was great. And you know, I never really thought about that idea of, are you ready for feedback? Like, would you? like, because Sometimes you're just not in the right state of mind for feedback, you know? So that's that's a really, really cool tip. Thank you for sharing that.

Stephanie: 4:37

Absolutely. And, you know, for me, I think as an HR professional, as an HR leader, I'm sure other HR leaders can relate to this, a lot of times you take on a role of a truth teller or the conscience of a leader within the organization. Which we could have a whole conversation about that. But I think sometimes because of that, you're telling hard truths. And sometimes folks aren't ready for those hard truths. Or they don't want them. And so at least if you're asking, if They say yes, you can come back to like, Hey, I asked if you wanted this I asked if you wanted this Wow. Wow. So it even could be a great tool in terms of managing up as well.

Kaleem: 5:14

That makes total sense. total sense. Total sense. so, tell me a little bit, about wounded workers. Yeah, What is it that you're trying to accomplish? It sounds like a really big goal. Tell me more about that.

Stephanie: 5:27

Yeah, absolutely. I'll try and click cliff notes it but you know, I spent a lot of time in my HR career in construction organizations and I actually spent a great session at a construction HR conference and we talked about DEI and all this amazing work happening in DEI and not a lot of great results. And then the next conversation we had. Was a conversation about mental health in the construction industry. There's actually a serious crisis around mental health in the industry. And I thought these conversations aren't so different. There's an overlap here. And that overlap is trauma informed workplaces. All I wanted to do was read a book about trauma informed workplaces, but I couldn't find what I was looking for. And so that's how the wounded Workforce was born, to help provide information, awareness, and resources to any leader, but specifically for HR leaders on how to help build trauma informed workplaces with a lens of how do we prevent harm, How do we recognize the prevalence of trauma and how we can build cultures that really support everyone regardless of their trauma status.

Kaleem: 6:37

Wow. Wow, you hear that? If you can't find what it is that. you're looking for, create something yourself, build it, just build it yourself. Absolutely. Kudos to you, kudos to you for doing that. So, you know, we're talking about remote work because we are on the Remotely One Park, that's onsite. So, how do you feel, since 2020, how do you feel about

7:04

how remote work has either r helped or

Kaleem: 7:07

not helped um, people who have experienced trauma. how does that workplace flexibility, integrate with, with, with people who are dealing with trauma?

Stephanie: 7:16

Yeah, absolutely. You know, flexibility is key in the future of work for everyone. Like I think that is a non negotiable and remote work creates another avenue for flexibility and it opens up. The talent pool. I mean, raise your hand. If you are an HR talent leader and you're wondering about how are you're going to fill positions now or in the future, because we've seen the statistics about retirement and those folks entering the workforce and the numbers are quite different. Yes. So opening up talent is so key, so important and remote work can help In terms of accommodation, Hashtag EEOC is big on remote work is absolutely an accommodation under the ADA. you know, so if you have maybe PTSD, maybe you have depression or other mental illness, and being able to work. remotely, whether all the time or sometimes really can be an option for people to bring their best selves to work. And also, you know, for individuals with disabilities, it's also another way to call those folks in. To make sure they have the right level of support and really engage the best talent for your organization. So I get so excited about remote work. I, I could talk forever about building relationships and remote work as well, because fun fact, if you're operating in person, but at different sites, you're building remote relationships already.

Kaleem: 8:54

location, independent, remote, yeah, virtual, whatever you want to say, if you're not in the same room,

Stephanie: 9:00

you're remote. Absolutely. And you know, I spent my early career in huge organizations, big fortune 500 companies. There weren't two HR people in the same location. And I have made some of the greatest mentors, greatest friends in my life, and we've never lived in the same place. And that was before the pandemic. That was before 2020. So we've been building remote connections for decades. And I think it's silly for us to try and say that it's not possible.

Kaleem: 9:31

Oh my gosh. So I got a real serious question.

Stephanie: 9:34

All right. all right.

Kaleem: 9:36

How do you rough boxing? I mean, where did that come from? I mean, I don't know. She can rough box. she can judge. She can judge the punches. How did you get

Stephanie: 9:46

into that? Okay, so that's a fun story. So, I am the only business professional in my family. My parents are both teachers. My brother is a firefighter paramedic. And my parents are super dedicated to helping support kids, especially kids in underserved communities. And my dad is also very into fitness. He is actually a disabled veteran. And so

Kaleem: 10:10

thank you for your service, Pops. thank you for your service.

Stephanie: 10:11

It's really It's really, important to him to be able to, kind of keep on top of, you know, his physical abilities and also give back. And So he got into boxing as a way to work out. It's a great workout. And then he found an opportunity to make it something to give back as well. And so when I was in high school and college, he had a nonprofit with my mom and they had, you know, youth Teenagers, youth fundraiser engaged, got that made sure, you know, they are going to school, they had, you know, ethics and core values they were doing, and really just help provide support. And, you know, it's crazy to think about it, but Omaha, Nebraska does have a gang problem. and keeps kids out of gangs, and keep them off the streets and, keep any of the fisticuffs confined to the boxing ring. And, you know, really they were looking for folks to be good referees, be good judges, you know, have, a spirit of service, and really want to help those kids out as well. And I said, you know, I don't want to get punched in the face, but I sure can help with refereeing and judging fight. So, it was a really great experience. I'm very grateful for it. you know,

Kaleem: 11:17

a lot of times we talk about finding your passion, finding your purpose and you definitely found yours. So congratulations

Stephanie: 11:25

for that. Thank you so much for coming on the show. And you know what?

Kaleem: 11:30

What's your favorite Flo Rida

Stephanie: 11:31

song? Um, you know, we gotta get those apple bottom jeans

Kaleem: 11:34

with the fur. Apple bottom jeans! Alright, we'll see you later

Stephanie: 11:42

so much. Let's

Kaleem: 11:44

get